Highlights Monster Day: Play at Home Game for My Preschooler
By Dana Anderson,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Preschoolers help cute monsters navigate their day.
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Highlights Monster Day: Play at Home Game for My Preschooler
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What’s It About?
Tap on the bed to wake up your monster, and then HIGHLIGHTS MONSTER DAY: PLAY AT HOME GAME FOR MY PRESCHOOLER begins. Move the monster through breakfast, swiping to help the monster eat exotic fruit or toast a bagel in the toaster. Tap the right arrow in the upper-right corner when you're ready to move on to the next scene of the day or the left arrow to move back a scene. When the monster is ready for the day, a bus takes it to school where kids can tap on rocks to reveal crystals, plant a seed to watch it grow, eat lunch, blow up a balloon, and more. Mini-games such as whack-a-mole and basketball show numbers as kids get points. After the bus takes the monster home, help it eat dinner, take a bubble bath, and brush its teeth. Turn on the night-light, and it's goodnight monster. Repeat with more monsters and more choices.
Is It Any Good?
Similar to a typical day in the life of a preschooler, the scenes and activities are relatable, easy to navigate, and charming. Helping the monsters along can be both fun and empowering, and focusing on monsters instead of kids adds the kind of silliness kids love. This app is also an easy first selection for preschoolers new to the world of apps. Though adding some audio instructions for at least the first scene or two could be helpful for kids who prefer listening to directions, it's still pretty straightforward to understand what to do and why. It would also be great to have a bit more interactivity, a wider range of reactions from the monsters, and more preschool-themed scenes that introduce kids to shapes or colors to add to the learning potential.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how each monster's daily routine is different from and similar to their own. What do they do at home? What do they like to eat?
Talk about the differences between the monsters and what their facial expressions and expressive sounds might mean.
Discuss the order in which things happen, such as how the monster gets ready for school or its bedtime routine.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire
- Skills: Self-Direction: personal growth, Emotional Development: empathy, Health & Fitness: fine motor skills
- Pricing structure: Free
- Release date: May 27, 2016
- Category: Education
- Topics: Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Publisher: Highlights for Children, Inc.
- Version: 1.0.1
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 7.0 or later; Android 4.1 and up
- Last updated: January 23, 2019
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